Vetei
"These gods have watched over our grandfathers fathers. And even before that, they watched over our ancestors. They are powerful gods, our gods." A druid on the Vetei. The Vetei is a pantheon of gods that have been in favour of the Yakimara for an untold time, dating way back before when the Yakimara clans and tribes held more land. The followers of the Vetei are most plentiful on the rural areas of the Yakimara clanlands. There are no priests serving the gods, instead the gods are mostly served by druids. Etmology The name of Vetei doesn't refer to any gods or particular being within the pantheon. It is Yakimara for 'Old Gods'. For the gods within the pantheon of the Vetei have been worshipped by the Yakimara for centuries. An age old argument that many druids and staunch followers of the Vetei use is that their gods are the oldest deities in the known world. Relations The old gods don’t promote violence. Neither do they usually seem to be keen to reward their followers for acts of violence. This may be one of the few factors that have allowed followers of the Vetei to live alongside worshippers of the Way of Fire, despite the many attempts of missionaries to convert the loyal flock of the Vetei. An interesting relation can be seen, however, between the Chonobi. who have their own gods, and the followers of the Vetei. For those who follow the Vetei don’t consider their gods the true ones. Simply the oldest and their own. Other gods and deities aren’t considered to be false, such as some more monotheistic faith. This has allowed some building relation between the Vetei and Chonobi. The Gods The Vetei is a pantheon that has a large number of gods. What follows is just a number of the most known and popular gods within the pantheon. WIP Practices There are a large number of practices. While the druids do hold meetings among each other, there are traditions and rituals with each god that can differ heavily from another god of the Vetei. Without any strictly central organisation, there are also many regional traditions and habits that differ from another area, clan or tribe. Here follow practices that are in general performed within the Vetei faith: True Sight Druids are always blind. This isn’t a matter of what they were born with. When somebody desires to become a druid, they are educated by other druids. Being taught the many stories, legends and prophecies. As, of course, the rituals and practices of their faith. Once the apprentice has learned enough, he or she will either be made blind or kept as apprentice to assist the druids. The ritual blinding is done with hot iron with the person being drugged by a various herbs. This harsh practice is quite misunderstood by outsiders, who find it cruel or in any sense wrong. But it is a practice embraced and considered an honour by the followers of the Vetei. It is because it is believed that the blinding is a way of ensuring that their prophetic power and connection to the gods can only be drawn from spiritual sources. Prayer and Sacrifice Each god within the Vetei have a different prayer. Usually, a person will go to a druid to ensure that the prayer or sacrifice is properly conducted. But not everybody always has the option to visit a druid within their sacred grounds for their wisdom or guidance. When conducting a prayer or sacrifice, the person is obliged to name who they are and naming three ancestors - hoping that these ancestors will guide them from the afterlife. More WIP. Category:Yakimara Category:Religion